gotcha!

i just received a call from a person pretending be someone else. as part of our opening spiel every onset of calls, we need to verify the caller at least 2 pieces of personal info. my caller has verified correctly the infos however, it was very suspicious. i asked for the date of birth. the true person/cardmember was born year 1932. the caller's voice was so active, so young sounding, so irate, so defensive. the usual calls i receive from the oldies often turned out to be light. they are the ones who call me sweetie, dear, darling,my son. and this particular call i received lately was no match. my credibility was even questioned and said, i was slow and seemed not wiling to help because i ask so many questions. the caller wants to get things done right away. instinct dictated the best thing i need to do. which is to probe some more. when i ask.."how can i help you today?" she said. "my grannny lets me use her card and why in the world am i having hard time using it?" ..THAT'S IT..! i told the caller to let her granny call us. i immediately block the account and insisted, let the real cm give us a call.

impostor...!

Identity thieves steal key pieces of personal information of someone and use them to commit crimes using the person's name and identity profile. documents can be picture id,utility bills and bank statements.
if a person opens an account in someone else's name. it is called fraud appplication. this is a very serious mattter. i usually receive complaints from people who have been victims of identity theft. what i do is verify if all the personal info match with what we have on the system. if everything matches, i close the account right away. if there are fraud charges already made , we fill up a form and forward matters to investigations team. i give assurance to the true person that he/she wont be held responsible for the account which was fraudulently opened. i was even commended one time when i told the customer to worry no more because i will take care of everything. the lesson we should learn from here is that to keep all our personal documents intact, away from suspicious people and more importantly, be wary and know all the people we deal with at all times. it's always better safe than sorry.

call me later...

caller id is very important. if a cardmember calls in and uses the phone number registered in the system, it immediately recognizes the caller and the account information pops up on the screen .. however there are times when the system is down... this means trouble.
everytime this problem arises, the first thing i ask for from the caller is their name.. next thing is their account number. if they cant provide me with the account number, i can either ask for phone number or social security number. in that way, i can pull up the account using those info. there are times when they don't want to give those informations and expect i be able to help them right away. that's what i really call.. trouble.
that was the kind of call i received recently. no data pop. the cardmember became suspicious and questioned my credibility. how can i go on with the call if there are no informations given to me? i was so patient, warm, friendly, sucker! no effect. the customer didn't give in. we went around in circles, he was so irate, he called me names, i tried to explain, i wasnt given a chance. so many complains. i just said, mr.. i apologize, much as i wanted to help you, much as i wanted to address your concerns, i possibly couldn't. the best advise i could give you is call back after 30 minutes. maybe the system is no longer down by that time.

it's raining calls...

i bid the morning shift because i dont want to take so many calls. i dont like queueing. i hate red lights on aspect. i can't afford to talk nonstop. morning shift means... it's nighttime in the US.. americans are already taking rest..done with shopping.sleeping soundly.plastics in wallet.kept.secured... that's the idea i pictured on my mind when i got the morning shift. well... it does happen. it's for real.less calls...less stress...less talk... BUT... things changed... i dont exactly understand why it's happening. for couple of weeks now, the volume of calls in the morning are growing in numbers.numerous calls are being routed to our department and to think that it's already like 10 in the morning..and super late at night in the pacific and other US regions. HOWEVER, i can't do anything about it. it's the nature of my job. i shouldn't complain. i just have to accept things as they are. besides, more calls means more money. enough reason to perk me up. whew!

kabayan call

the call i recently received was from a filipino (based in Los Angeles, CA)who visited the country for vacation. he's trying to use the card however it got declined because he's using it out of spending pattern. he was kinda irate because he was actually doing a shopping spree at SM and suddenly it didn't go through. i took the call so calmly and explained everything how i could help him resolve the issue. he was totally clueless that the 1-800 number he dialled was routed to our country where he is at the moment. since, there was no fraud issue and he was actually the one using the card and not someone else, i immediately removed the security block on the account and informed him that his plastic is good to go. i was about to end the call when i introduced myself as a filipino like him and told him our office is located near the department store where he is doing his shopping. he got so excited and can't actually believe because he thought i was one of those american agents. he wanted to stay on the line and keep talking but told him i cant stay for long because it's queueing time. had i stayed longer and had conversation with him, i'm quite sure we'll end it up seeing each other and talking over bottles of San Miguel beer. :-)

what the..???

i was trained to work for the US Fraud department. i attended US core training. i passed the accent neutralization training. i was told i would be talking to a lot of americans hence, the training was rigid.
surpised! last monday,august 26 was a disaster. it was supposedly a light kind of shift because it was a sunday PST time. but no! it was totally queueing time. no right to complain. trained to handle calls. but wait! most of my calls were unbearable. i'm not a racist, i don't discriminate but ... oh jeez! most of my calls where from Asia and other non-english speaking countries,mixed cultures living in the US. since my company practice diversity, we anticipated that some callers will be requesting to an agent who speak their language. we have different language dept where we can forward calls. i offered my callers i can transfer them to an agent who can further assist them. they declined and told me.. i want to learn english from you. here's the exact words one of my callers said.... " i dont like you transfer me to some of the others. i want to english myself. you and i alone will talking to one another now . i understanding you very good. i know how to english myself . you helping me, explaining to me what my credit card is about. no.. no transfer. i can english"

there! need i say more?